The ancient Romans had a dish called "isicia omentata," which was made by mixing minced meat with bread soaked in wine and various seasonings. These could be considered early versions of meatballs. The recipe, attributed to the Roman gourmet Apicius, can be found in the "Apicius," a Roman cookbook dating back to the 4th or 5th century CE.
Prep Time30 minsCook Time30 minsTotal Time1 hr
Ingredients
Meatballs
480 g mixed beef and pork mince
2 eggs(or egg-whites only)
2 garlic cloves(minced)
¼ cup breadcrumbs
⅛ cup double cream
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp majoram
¼ tsp salt
⅛ tsp msg
⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper(ground)
Sauce
2 cans of san marzano tomatoes
6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
2 pinches red chili flakes
¼ tsp salt
⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
In this recipe we are using only one skillet. This will allow us to maximize flavor by fond which is created during step of meatballs browning. Additionally all the fat which is released by meatballs will stay in the sauce which contributes to the complexity of sauce.
If you are in rush you can simmer your sauce separately while you are browning your meatballs, but you will scarify flavor for gained speed.
Directions
1
- Ready the stand mixer with paddle attachment.
- In to the bowl load all meatball ingredients.
- Mix for several seconds until well incorporated.
- Make sure to not over-mix, just until all bonded well.
Sauce
2
- Load all sauce ingredients in to food processor.
- Blitz until smooth and set aside.
Browning
3
- Heat up the duch oven or deeper stainless steel pan.
- Add tiny amount of olive oil and start forming balls.
- You should end up with approximately 20 meatballs.
- Place in the skillet but make sure they are each separate.
- Brown slowly over medium heat on all sides.
Simmer
4
- Once you are done with browning pour the sauce over.
- Close the skillet for 5 minutes to get sauce up to temp.
- Uncover, mix a little the sauce and flip balls.
- Continue to simmer at least 10 minutes.
- This is important to bring forward natural sweetness of tomatoes.
Serve
5
- Once you are happy with sauce remove all meatballs.
- Transfer cooked spaghetti in to the sauce and mix well.
- With cooking tweezers load coated spaghetti to serving plates.
- Place meatballs on top and spoon as much sauce required.
- Finally grate pecorino romano or parmigiano on top.
- Garnish with fresh basil.
Ingredients
Meatballs
480 g mixed beef and pork mince
2 eggs(or egg-whites only)
2 garlic cloves(minced)
¼ cup breadcrumbs
⅛ cup double cream
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp majoram
¼ tsp salt
⅛ tsp msg
⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper(ground)
Sauce
2 cans of san marzano tomatoes
6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
2 pinches red chili flakes
¼ tsp salt
⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1
- Ready the stand mixer with paddle attachment.
- In to the bowl load all meatball ingredients.
- Mix for several seconds until well incorporated.
- Make sure to not over-mix, just until all bonded well.
Sauce
2
- Load all sauce ingredients in to food processor.
- Blitz until smooth and set aside.
Browning
3
- Heat up the duch oven or deeper stainless steel pan.
- Add tiny amount of olive oil and start forming balls.
- You should end up with approximately 20 meatballs.
- Place in the skillet but make sure they are each separate.
- Brown slowly over medium heat on all sides.
Simmer
4
- Once you are done with browning pour the sauce over.
- Close the skillet for 5 minutes to get sauce up to temp.
- Uncover, mix a little the sauce and flip balls.
- Continue to simmer at least 10 minutes.
- This is important to bring forward natural sweetness of tomatoes.
Serve
5
- Once you are happy with sauce remove all meatballs.
- Transfer cooked spaghetti in to the sauce and mix well.
- With cooking tweezers load coated spaghetti to serving plates.
- Place meatballs on top and spoon as much sauce required.
- Finally grate pecorino romano or parmigiano on top.
- Garnish with fresh basil.